Domino effect 2: déjà vu
DAVAO CITY — Except for a lone military tank stationed in front of the city hall, there are no visible signs of military rule in Mindanao’s premier metropolis.
Most people here seem oblivious of martial law’s imposition in the country’s second biggest island since May 23. Their main topic nowadays is the carnage at the Resorts World Manila casino in Pasay City last week.
In an ambush interview at Cagayan de Oro City over the weekend, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said the Islamic State terrorist group was not behind the Resorts World incident, echoing the position of the Philippine National Police on the midnight attack that claimed at least 38 lives and injured 54 others.
But House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez took a contrarian stance: “I disagree with the conclusion reached by law enforcement authorities that the Resorts World incident was not a terrorist act. This is a clear example of a ‘ lone wolf’ terrorist attack targeting civilians to inflict maximum loss of life and damage to property.”
This was not the first time Mr. Alvarez had contradicted the President and his other allies. The grapevine is abuzz with stories on his brewing battle with another Davao del Norte congressman, Antonio Floirendo, Jr.
Due to the personal spat, Mr. Floirendo’s family-owned Tagum Development Co., Inc. ( Tadeco) has been dragged into the fray along with the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). They are partners in a joint venture agreement (JVA) involving a 5,308-hectare banana plantation within the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) in Panabo City.
During a Lower House hearing last week regarding the legality of the JVA, Mr. Alvarez asked the Commission on Audit to conduct a special examination of Tadeco’s revenues, its income tax payments and those of its stockholders, as well as the share and rentals received by BuCor, an agency under the Department of Justice (DoJ).
At the same hearing, DoJ Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II told the House panel that he directed the BuCor to file a case in court that would lead to the recovery of its DPPF reservation and the cancellation of its JVA with Tadeco. He said the legal process is the longer route, while “the shorter route is for President Duterte to cancel it.”
According to Manila Standard columnist Jojo A. Robles, the Speaker asked Mr. Aguirre to immediately revoke the agreement with Tadeco. “The pressure on Aguirre comes in the form of a draft resolution authored by Sulu second district Rep. Munir Arbison, who demanded that the Commission on Appointments withdraw its earlier confirmation of the Justice Secretary. Arbison, a known ally of Alvarez, accused Aguirre of favoring a former client of his, Sulu ViceGov. Abdusakur Tan, who filed a case against Arbison,” he wrote.
On the other hand, a new development has surfaced in Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Biz Buzz column titled “Third Party Interest” by Daxim L. Lucas: “We heard that a Chinese- Filipino businessman wants to take over Tadeco’s lucrative BuCor land agreement in case the current deal falls through. And this businessman is so eager for it that he has already put out P100 million to help things go his way.”
Word on the street is that he is referring to Jeffrey Cheng of the Philippine International Air Terminals Co., Inc. (Piatco), winning bidder for the contract to construct the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Terminal 3 together with Fraport of Germany.
His father, Cheng Yong, used to own a steel bar manufacturing firm called the Philippine Blooming Mills (PBM). In the 1970s, then President Ferdinand E. Marcos allegedly tried to pressure the elder Cheng into handing over the company to the dictator.
But he refused to give in, decided to close PBM instead, and fled to the US. Returning to the Philippines in 1986 after Mr. Marcos’ overthrow by the People Power Revolution, he shifted to the cargo handling business and other airport-related ventures, one of which is Piatco run by his son Jeffrey.
The younger Cheng is a close friend of Mr. Alvarez dating back to the 1990s when the latter was chief operating officer of the Manila International Airport Authority during the Ramos administration, and subsequently when he became transportation and communications secretary in the Arroyo Cabinet.
A Newsbreak article by Ricky A. Carandang in 2002 reported: “Those in the Cheng camp believe that all the fuss over Piatco is meant to pressure them to abandon the project so that a third party can take over.”
If the current speculation is true, it looks like a case of déjà vu with a twist: the shoe is now on the other foot, with the previously oppressed becoming the new oppressor.